Butuan City government is planning to loan 10 billion pesos for the project of Masao International Seaport to be realized at barangay Masao, Butuan City. The government is considering official development assistance (ODA) eyeing Japan as the source of the fund with the Department of Transportation as a flagship project, or it will be ventured through Public Private Partnership (PPP) but still the development will be from ODA of Japan.

According to the local news, “P10 bilyon ang estimated ana through ODA siya , so it will relatively as a dole out loan and it will be a project between Department of Transportation or it will be a ventured through Public Private Partnership, pero ang pagdevelop gyud, it will be ODA from Japan,” as stated by Paolo Gogo, spokesperson of the City Government of Butuan under the administration of Mayor Ronnie Vicente Lagnada.

Once the project implemented, according to Gogo, this will be an engine of economic progress in Butuan with the surge of employment
and income to the majority of Butuanons living in Butuan.

Butuan is already strategic in terms of the commercial hub of processing and manufacturing. The presence of Masao Internation Seaport is a good location in terms of logistics and supply chain network being the nearest port to work with as assessed by NEDA and JICA.

It was targeted that the construction of Masao International Seaport will be on the year 2020, as it is still part also of the projected infrastructures within the so-called North Butuan Economic Zone.

Accordingly, “Including the pre-Feasibility Study and the Feasibility Study in the medium term, 6 years ang among projection sa development of the seaport, 6 months of Pre-FS and 1-2 years of FS. I think that’s the shortest and the programming or the implementation of the structure will happen on 2020 pa gyud ang estimate ana,” as stated by Gogo.